Prosecutors say Novellino attacked his ex-wife, Judith, at their home in June 2010. They had recently finalized their divorce, and Judith was packing items to take to her apartment when she was stabbed.

Judith Novellino, 62, was a teacher at Morris Catholic High School in Denville. Their adult daughter found her body.

Anthony Novellino was captured several days after the killing in Washington state, where he fled to meet a woman he had been communicating with online.